Comic Vine News

Exclusive: Batman Group May 2013 Solicits

Find out what's happening in the Bat-Books in May.

We're about to see the end of Death of the Family but there's still plenty more action coming in the Batman Family books. DC Comics has given us an exclusive look at the covers and solicits for May 2013.

In “Once Upon a Midnight Dreary” three of The Dark Knight’s greatest foes unite in to tackle the threat of Batman head-on! Will the diabolical scheming of Scarecrow, Mad Hatter and The Penguin be too much for Batman to handle?

The superhuman transformation of Ignatius Ogilvy is just the tip of the iceberg when an extremely unexpected character comes to The Penguin’s aid! And in the backup story, Emperor Penguin makes a trip to Blackgate Prison he won’t soon forget!

This issue is also offered as a combo pack edition with a redemption code for a digital download of this issue.

Arsenal finally confronts Green Arrow, but it may be a short-lived reunion as someone from their past has targeted them both. Find out what the feud between Arsenal and Green Arrow is about, along with secrets from Roy Harper’s history.

@Zeeguy91: That's my point. New 52 was a chance to be a bit more progressive. And they gave her a sweet-looking costume that had an excuse behind it (she was a revered captain). For the first time she had a modest outfit that made sense from a narrative and combat perspective. I'm disappointed to see them now regressing back to the status quo portrayal of her.

I'm kind of confused because what you're asking for might be labelled less progressive by some, myself included. A few points:

Just because a female character wears a revealing outfit doesn't mean that she automatically becomes a two-dimensional sex bunny of a character. What matters is her personality, and although Lobdell got flack early on over the portrayal of Starfire, there have been several instances, such as the space captain role that you described, where Starfire shined as a character. I remember seeing panels where Starfire's dialogue showed her as someone who preaches peace and hope over senseless violence and hatred. THAT is what should matter, not what she's wearing. She could have had the same revealing outfit in her space captain role and it wouldn't have mattered because of the simple fact that the captain role itself meant that she was stepping up as a character. In essence, boiling Starfire down to what she's wearing and saying that its indicative of how DC is choosing to portray her as a character is akin to saying that women who like to wear miniskirts or sexy cocktail dresses when they go out are whores. Just to be clear, I'm not saying this is your actual opinion, I'm just saying how it could sound like you're saying this

Wasn't her regular, revealing costume also justified from a logistical standpoint? Remember, Starfire gets her powers from absorbing the sun's ultraviolet radiation through her skin. Therefore, the more skin that is exposed to the sunlight, the more powerful she is. I know that this could simply have been put in as a way to sexualize her, but it also played an important part of her character in the New Teen Titans days. For example, her entire relationship with her sister (and even Blackfire's reasons for becoming a villain in the first place) stem from the fact that Blackfire had a disorder where she couldn't absorb sunlight through her skin normally and didn't have the same flight powers as regular Tamaranians (such as Starfire) had.

@Zeeguy91: Well, first, allow me to point you at No, but really, why?, the thread/blog I wrote more or less in response to this.

Second, I appreciate what you are saying. The notion of freeing sexuality as a means of expressing female power is obviously nothing new. But the real question, one neither of us can truly answer but may speculate on, is whether Starfire wears so little out of personal statement of freedom or out of the artist/writer's desire to have her dress as such. Real women who make real decisions about their clothing, sure, I get that they don't want to be controlled by men's rules, whether for modesty or for objectification (though some girls make a bad name for this view by actually being slutty and then defending their right as if it were somehow honorable). I personally don't feel like Kori's pseudo-bikini is her making a personal statement about independence. I think it's just fanservice that is conveniently justified because it could be about independence.

Someone in that other thread (where I think you should respond to me, if you choose to respond, since it's not necessarily the point of this topic ^_^) pointed out that Superman also gets his powers because of Earth's sun, but he wears almost full-body clothing. I'm not saying there's nothing to the argument, but I'm saying again it's not an ironclad defense and it certainly doesn't disprove the notion that the real reason for the outfit is fanservice.

So happy that RHTO got a well deserved annual, and actually taking the time to answer questions we have been asking since the beginning fo the new 52, and on top of that every new issue of the current storyline is looking so above and beyond awesome I cant wait to throw money at it!!!!

Definitely getting Batman, Nightwing, might check out Batgirl, Batwing is really peeking my interest with this new armor and a psosible new Batwing, Talon looking great as always, and RHTO goes without saying

Is Snyder teasing a Superman/Batman team up? Aw yeah just what I wanted!

Yeah I was thinking along the same lines.

Looking at the cover, it does remind me a lot of this image

Plus although this might just be me, I think I can make out a cape under all that gloop along with Superman's face. And Snyder's teased an appearance by Superman on Twitter so I guess this might be it.

@Zeeguy91: I fully understand where your coming from, and I believe whole heatedly in "female empowerment" and I agree to a half point on your statement. . .

In essence, boiling Starfire down to what she's wearing and saying that its indicative of how DC is choosing to portray her as a character is akin to saying that women who like to wear miniskirts or sexy cocktail dresses when they go out are whores. Just to be clear, I'm not saying this is your actual opinion, I'm just saying how it could sound like you're saying this

True. You take a woman form an African tribe nation who is accustomed to wearing top less attires with piercing as a form of her national heritage, and migrate her to the social standards of US customs, and your point would would be made crystal clear. She is not a whore and her attire is the expression of her character. But frankly this is not the excuse most comics give for disrobing nearly every heroic woman in comics. If any woman is being stereotyped at all with the comic arena, it is working mother. It is they that fight to show their worth through skill and not skin. It is they who has to set the example to their daughters that getting half naked is not the sole form of "woman empowerment". It is the pregnant woman, to where in comics the delivering of life is never concerned "heroic" (so no pregnant are allow). It is the older woman. Where it is addressed that men of 40 and 50 year of age could date younger women (Rogue and Magneto) but older women can't simply be in comics if you can not fit into a two piece. It is the minority women. In comics name four Indian women, four African women, four Mexican woman, there are more white looking aliens in comics the real minority women. Point being I agree with assessment about not judging a woman for what she wares. We have to be careful of judging anyone. But truthfully you should not dress in a bikini and teach a class full of underage students (Emma Frost). You should not fight on the front lines in a military battle half naked, even if your are invulnerable. (Ms Marvel). Real world talk, How you dress makes a difference, and there are so much more to women then how they have been portrayed in comics. Most of the time it is men explaining the position of a women in comics (myself included) but ask real women, mothers, working women, home women, minority women or most women in general how they feel about how they are portrayed in comics and the answer would shock us both. (nice article)

@entropy_aegis: Because Starfire stars in one of the Batman family books now.

@Botiste: I completely get where you're coming from, but there are some things in your argument that I think should be addressed.

For one, I don't think superhero pregnancy is underrepresented because they want to disempower women. Bottom line is that pregnant women should not be engaging in dangerous superhero vs. villain battles because of potential harm to the baby that they're carrying. No one is saying that a mother cannot be a superheroine, but I think it's probably best that a pregnant woman stay out of a zone of combat. Although, if I remember correctly, Liberty Bell tried for some time to remain a hero while she was pregnant.

Furthermore, while there can definitely be more minority women represented in comics, there's no denying the ones already there. To go by the guidelines you laid out:

Whoever he is,it seems he now controls Nightwing by taking his eskrima sticks...could be Saiko,..could be William Cobb,...could be Jimmy.Altough I want see Saiko again.He would be a great adversary of Nightwing

Whoever he is,it seems he now controls Nightwing by taking his eskrima sticks...could be Saiko,..could be William Cobb,...could be Jimmy.Altough I want see Saiko again.He would be a great adversary of Nightwing

I can't remember,but i think Saiko's hair wasn't that long,it could be interesting to see cobb return,given their familial ties.

Whoever he is,it seems he now controls Nightwing by taking his eskrima sticks...could be Saiko,..could be William Cobb,...could be Jimmy.Altough I want see Saiko again.He would be a great adversary of Nightwing

I can't remember,but i think Saiko's hair wasn't that long,it could be interesting to see cobb return,given their familial ties.

Also cool Profile Pic,love Capullo's art on Batman.

Then I think it will be cool.May be Cobb mocks Nightwing's every move by reminding him that he was supposed to be a talon...and thanks for the complement.May many creative teams come and go,I don't have a problem....but on Batman?...I don't want to see anybody doing the art other than Capullo.He is a maestro in the pencil department.

Whoever he is,it seems he now controls Nightwing by taking his eskrima sticks...could be Saiko,..could be William Cobb,...could be Jimmy.Altough I want see Saiko again.He would be a great adversary of Nightwing

I can't remember,but i think Saiko's hair wasn't that long,it could be interesting to see cobb return,given their familial ties.

Also cool Profile Pic,love Capullo's art on Batman.

Then I think it will be cool.May be Cobb mocks Nightwing's every move by reminding him that he was supposed to be a talon...and thanks for the complement.May many creative teams come and go,I don't have a problem....but on Batman?...I don't want to see anybody doing the art other than Capullo.He is a maestro in the pencil department.

I'm actually intrigued about Andy Kubert(i think that's who it is) doing art for issue #19,being a guy that started with the new 52,it's exciting to see new people,but if they're on Batman,it better be only temporary,same goes for writing duties on Nightwing :)